Boss Mick McCarthy felt his side’s 0-0 draw with West Ham at Portman Road was an entertaining affair despite the lack of goals.
"There was a lot of attacking play from both sides,” he said. "I thought in the first half we had some really good chances and of all the people in the club to take them it would be Jack Marriott I would have thought, but it’s a different ball game.
"It’s not the U21s, he’s not at Woking. He went through with the first one and I could hear the crowd go ‘ooo!’ and he snatched it and it went wide.
"He’s playing in a different atmosphere. He’s got to translate all he’s been doing, that finishing and that quality from the leagues he’s been playing in to this one. And I think he will because I thought he was pretty good in the first half.”
The Town boss also had praise for several more of his younger players: "I thought Teddy Bishop was excellent, he got about the pitch, he made his tackles, he’s a good footballer, Teddy.
"Matt Clarke, is he anywhere near the first team instead of Chambers, Smith and Berra? No. Is he progressing? He’s 17, him and he’s doing all right for himself. I’m pleased with him, so there are a couple out of the academy.
"And I thought the two wingers, Cameron Stewart and Alex Henshall, put in very good shift and also created some good chances for us.”
The Town boss dismissed reports that the Blues paid a fee for new keeper Bartosz Bialkowski when he joined from Notts County earlier in the week: "No, we didn’t. There are clauses in it if we get promoted, there’s a sell-on clause. Let’s cut through all the nonsense and just tell the truth for once.
"We’ve been trying to get him for a long time. He was the keeper we were looking at, we tried to get him. It just ended up getting protracted like some deals do. But I think we’ve all seen why I have tried to get him, he played well tonight.”
The game saw former Blue Aaron Cresswell make a swift return to Portman Road, the left-back almost celebrating with a goal when he hit the cross-bar in the first half, although his former manager says he would have been lucky.
"Deflection!” McCarthy insisted. "He was great. He’s always welcome here. He’s been a fabulous player for us and also a fabulous lad.
"They’ve taken to him straight away and he didn’t look out of place. Him and Jarvis are going to be a handful to everybody in the Premier League.”
Anthony Wordsworth missed the game with a tight glute but is expected to train tomorrow, while Stephen Hunt was again absent due to a minor calf problem.